Several new ferry terminals are underway for three Bay Area cities, with hopes to ease commuters off the road and onto the water. The expansion is part of the San Francisco Bay Ferry’s 2050 Service Vision, adopted by its Board of Directors on Thursday.

The policy outlines how the Water Emergency Transportation Authority expects to expand across the bay for the next 25 years. Not only is the agency prepared to spend over $117 million to electrify its ferry service, but WETA is looking to build new ferry ports in three Bay Area counties.

Two new terminals are coming to San Francisco, one across from Chase Center in Mission Bay and another on Treasure Island, and others are slated for both Berkeley and Redwood City.

WETA already secured funding to launch a pilot program to carry Giants fans from the Port of Redwood City to the ballpark for a few Sundays this summer. The meeting’s agenda noted five potential dates across July, August and September, and the agency is preparing to announce the official launch to the public soon. 

In the meantime, the Port of Redwood City and WETA are collaborating on a design and environmental review to begin work on its new ferry terminal. 

Off the shore of the East Bay, the Berkeley Pier was selected as the site to build a terminal. The pier closed in 2015 due to structural issues, and since then, the city has been something of a missing link for the agency. Although it has three BART stations, the western half of Berkeley lacks a significant investment in transit. 
 
WETA plans to change this and entered a memorandum of understanding with the city of Berkeley on Thursday that commits $3 million to fully design the ferry terminal and a recreational pier to bring people down to the marina. 

“Berkeley stands out,” Thomas Hall, spokesperson for WETA, told SFGATE. “To drive from Berkeley to San Francisco is torturous. Even on the best day, you’re sitting in one of the worst commute corridors in the country. We’d love to offer a 20-minute ferry ride across the bay.”

In San Francisco, where 16th Street meets the bay next to Chase Center, WETA identified the south shore of Bay Front Park for its new terminal to ferry residents to and from Mission Bay. 

WETA was close to breaking ground in Mission Bay, but Hall said the pandemic “scrambled” their plans and funding. Another service that was discontinued during the pandemic was a shuttle bus service to connect ferry passengers to both San Francisco International Airport and Oakland International Airport. Hall said WETA explored expanding into each airport but abandoned the idea due to regulatory issues around land use near airports. 

According to the minutes of the board’s April meeting, it was suggested that WETA continue considering access to the airports by improving the first- and last-mile connections from either the South San Francisco Ferry Terminal or the Harbor Bay Ferry Terminal in Alameda. Hall said they are “cognizant” of connecting ferries with airports as the policy moves forward.  

In the middle of the bay, between San Francisco and Oakland, the Treasure Island Transportation Program runs ferry services in smaller vessels. 

Hall said the private ferry operator is helping to build demand while WETA plans to increase its presence on the island with a new electrified terminal. The agency is finishing designs on its first small electric vessel, which will carry 100 to 150 passengers, and expects the new electrified ferry to begin service in 2026. 

The four terminals in Berkeley, Redwood City and San Francisco are part of the first tier outlined in the 2050 Service Vision. A second tier — which would expand services to Martinez, Pittsburg, Antioch, Hercules and Foster City — is also included.  

Jim Wunderman, chair of the agency’s Board of Directors, said in a statement that the new policy is a “commitment to aggressively pursue a new golden age of ferries in the Bay Area.” Not only will the services provide fresh transit options for commuters, but the areas around the terminals are expected to trigger economic development along each Bay Area city’s waterfront. 

“For everyone else, the bay is an obstacle, something you have to drive around,” Hall said. “For us, it’s an opportunity.”